Haya Harareet, an Israeli actress making her first appearance in an American film, emerges as a performer of stature. Her portrayal of Esther, the former slave and daughter of Simonides, steward of the House of Hur, is sensitive and revealing. Wyler presumably deserves considerate credit for taking a chance on an unknown. She has a striking appearance and represents a welcome departure from the standard Hollywood ingenue.
She began her career in Israeli films with Hill 24 Doesn't Answer (1955), which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. She played opposite Virna Lisi in Francesco Maselli's The Doll that Took the Town (1957), an Italian film. Her major role as Esther in Ben-Hur (1959) remains her most widely seen performance in international cinema. Variety, in its review of Ben-Hur, praised Harareet's performance:
She co-wrote the screenplay for Our Mother's House (1967) from the novel of the same name by Julian Gloag.
